


The Pygmalion Effect

by LazlosLulls



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Allura can be Smol or Tol in the relationship, Communication, Established Relationship, Eyeliner, F/M, Fluff, Implied/Referenced Sex, Shiro is Tired and Scared for Allura, Vomiting, allura is topless this entire fic, altean headcanons, back massage, it vibrates, non sexual breast expansion, shush he has an epicanthic fold too he wears eyeliner to help make it pop, sick allura, why wouldn't shapeshifters change for fighting??
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-20
Updated: 2018-03-20
Packaged: 2019-04-05 07:19:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,383
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14039058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LazlosLulls/pseuds/LazlosLulls
Summary: Shiro attempts to massage Allura, but accidentally triggers an Altean biological reaction. They talk instead.





	The Pygmalion Effect

It was a quiet night in the Castle. Allura had finished her evening shower, and like clockwork, Shiro appeared, ready to wind down with her. He had even started wearing pajamas, the overlarge tunic and pants making him look smaller and softer than usual.

Shiro picked up the brush waiting on her vanity and started. Her hair would shift and curl during the day, an extension of her expressions much like her lips or eyes. He talked, calmly and quietly, while his hands worked through the tangles, easing them out. Minutes stretched into an hour until he was done, plaiting her hair into loose braids.

“So, Hunk checked out my arm today. That vibrating we were concerned about, apparently it’s a feature. Supposed to disorientate people when my hand’s wrapped around their throat.” He said this in a cheery, conversational tone. Allura has learned to ignore harsh words said kindly, apparently it was part of processing trauma.

“So, it’s not going to explode on us?” Allura asked, seeing Shiro tie off the final braid.

“Nope.” Shiro placed his hands on her shoulders, activating the vibration. The sensation was alarming at first, but he moved quickly, leaving a pleasant tingling in his wake. “Yes or no?”

“That would feel lovely on my back. And other places.” Allura glanced back, smiling easily.

Shiro caught her gaze and blushed.

Allura shook herself out of her tunic and laid on her bed. It was important for Alteans to have massages; the muscles that transformed their bodies needed some upkeep, so Allura had a personal massage chair in her bathroom. Shiro’s attempts were not a substitute. But they were intimate, easy touches from her lover, so she wouldn’t deny them both a little pleasure.

He started with his usual, gliding his hands up and down with the help of lotion, until she’s used to the pressure. Then he turned the vibrator on, careful not to linger. Shiro’s hands were constantly moving, then, working on the tense muscles, pressing down and caressing her arms and her back. He slowly increased the pressure, and she felt the vibrations coincide with her purrs. Quite suddenly, her mouth overflowed with drool. Her insides twisted, and she felt a twang just this side of painful from her limbs. Allura picked her heavy arms up, feeling another pinch from her back.

“Are you-” Shiro stopped, waiting. She swallowed her words before shoving him away. She’s only felt this a handful of times in her life, all equally terrible. Allura bolted to the bathroom. Her balance suddenly shifted, her chest becoming heavier while her torso stretched upward. She stumbled before reaching a sink and spitting. As she suspected, it was a thin liquid the color of dust. Allura smacked her lips, judging the acidic taste.

Shiro was at her side. “Allura! Are you alright?” Cautiously, he put his human hand on the small of her back. She was now taller than him by a head, her whole body changed to fit her natural height.

Allura started to breathe deeply, staving off the nausea. “I think it was just tha-” Her stomach seized and she heaved its contents out. Her tongue felt around her mouth, noting the vestigial fangs had presented themselves. Out of habit, she tried stretching her lips outward to view them. They didn’t move beyond her nose. Liquid flooded her mouth and she spat it into the sink. “I’m-it’s fine Shiro, I think.” She noticed that he held her hair back and smiled.

His lips twitched, still concerned. “Maybe you should lay back down. I’ll go find a bucket so you can stay in bed.”

“This isn’t a sickness- well, it is, but it’s not caused by any virus or bacteria.” She hasn’t had an episode this bad since she was a child. One whole week of being juniberry purple with petals for hair and gnarled roots for feet made her snap back into- she gasped.

He must not see her like this.

“Allura-wait! What?” she pushed him out of the bathroom and slammed the door. Not a moment too soon, either. Her ears dropped, and she felt them curl inwards. “Allura! You don’t sound alright.”

“I…I think you disabled my shifting core. I’m going to be fine! I’m just expelling a lot of toxins; Get Coran, he’ll be able to help!” Allura’s skin prickled, starting from her skull down through her feet. Suddenly feeling the effects of a full bladder, Allura set up the toilet and went, not at all relieved. Shivering, she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around herself like a cloak.

“Okay! I’ll be back!” His voice was muffled by the door.

She sincerely wished that he wouldn’t be.

-

“I’m rather puzzled, Shiro. You used the vibration function of your hand and she ISN’T clinging to you like a Kangas child?”

“She said something about a core being disabled and she locked me out of the bathroom. She threw up some kind of bile!”

“Oh! That’s not bile! It’s lactic acid! Among other things…it’s nothing truly harmful. Here’s a handheld scanner, and Allura should be the one to tell you all about it. Part of any healthy relationship!”

“…alright.”

"Oh! And let me get you some replenishing snacks too!"

-

Shiro was back far too soon. He knocked and announced himself, telling her that his scanner only works if he’s let in. Allura tried again to shift herself into anything more respectable.

“Did you faint?” He sounded worried, “I’m going to break this door if you can’t open it!”

“No! I’m fine, Shiro, just a second!” Her hand paused on the door button, then she sighed, dropping the towel. It’s better if he saw her fully, and it’s not like she hasn’t been undressed with him before. Just…nerves. The door slid open, and Shiro bustled his way inside, dumping what he’d gathered on the counter. He turned to look at her, in her un-sculpted glory.

She could see her face perfectly in the mirror behind Shiro. As noted, her ears had shriveled, curled inward and sitting horizontal instead of at attention. The bone structures she’d kept a pinch open, to keep her eyes curiously wide, snapped back to a narrower, focused shape. Her fangs were strange in her mouth: after eating soft foods, she’s never had to use them. Her hair had puffed out a little, contained by the braids, but she could see fanatical curls springing loose. A scar stretched out from her shoulder and down: she had almost forgotten the way it puckered, pulling her left breast upward a touch. Ugly little blemishes were thrown haphazardly around her body, settling on her shoulders and face the most. Her breasts had expanded, instead of being manageable size, flopped around with minds of their own. Thanks to keeping in fighting condition, her arms, stomach, and legs felt reasonably unchanged, only longer, taller and bigger with wider feet for balance. Honestly, she liked that, she may keep the feet the same, and it’s been so long since she’d done this…

“Aren’t you cold?” Shiro was looking up at her, a not unwelcome sight. His brows were pinched together in confusion. “Coran gave me the handheld: I can’t exactly read it, do you mind?”

She took the tablet, running through the instructions. The scanner circle was split in two, one on the floor and the other hovered just above her head before rising and falling across her body. The tablet chimed; the data was processing at it would take half a dobosh for an answer.

“So. What’s going on?” Shiro asked in a gentle voice.

Allura sighed and sat herself against the wall. Shiro sat himself near her, close enough to reach. He had to stop himself from looking at her breasts, vaguely ashamed. Was her form that strange? She’s not sure if human woman even get this large…though she doesn’t have a large reference pool anyway.

She pinched the fabric of her sleep pants while she thought of an answer. “As you know, Alteans shapeshift their bodies to blend in alien cultures and to survive harsh environments. We can’t hold the change forever. What I vomited earlier was a buildup of secretions from the muscles. When you used your vibrational setting, you actually completely disabled my shifting abilities.” She lifted her head, catching a glimpse of Shiro’s patient gaze. “This is…what I am. The scanner will tell if it’s permanent or not.”  
He gave it the appropriate amount of time, schooling his features into acceptance before speaking. “Alright.”

“Do you have any questions?”

“Well…why aren’t you that tall all of the time? Wouldn’t you be stronger like this?”

Allura couldn’t help it: she pitched her head back and laughed. “Ha! Stronger? No, Shiro! In my smaller form, my energy is more tightly coiled: I can release it for more power. The Galra were already attacking: of course I was fighting, and I never really stopped.” She growled, picking up one of her breasts. “How am I going to fight like this? Are they just going to flap around?”

Shiro made a strange noise, trying again to keep looking at her in the eye. “Well…Pidge has a binder, we could study it and make one for you. Like a bra.”

“That flimsy sex thing? I think I’d burst through that!”

“There are other ones that aren’t for sex…” he mumbled.

He was quiet after that. She reached for a bottle of ‘space Gatorade’, cracking it open and taking easy sips to replenish her nutrients. Another itch bothered up her legs, Allura felt it in the air. She rubbed at her scar, “Does it bother you?”

He looked at her, mildly annoyed, as if to say, ‘look at my face and say that again, I dare you’ but instead, “I don’t want you to be uncomfortable with yourself, Allura. Having a scar won’t change the fact that you’re you.”

His words, though kind, did nothing to help. “I’m supposed to be the most skilled diplomat in Altea; the greatest example of all of the good we can do…have done. Of course I shouldn’t have scars!” Allura started to flick her arms around, “Shifting your face is perfectly normal, actually! At the very least I need to be symmetrical! And I need to get rid of these blemishes, they’re absolutely awful!”

“Do you mean your freckles?”

“Please-don’t say that word;” she gulped, “it’s actually slang for sex acts that your kind doesn’t have the body parts for.”

“I’ll put it on the list.” He traced a circle on her arm carefully, “On Earth, they’re considered pretty cute.”

“We’re not on Earth. How does your species handle these marks, anyway?”

“…makeup. Colored powders and pastes that you paint your face with to remove or accentuate features.” Shiro shrugged, “I do it all the time.”

“What? Where?” Suddenly she grabbed his face, licking her thumb and rubbing it across his cheekbone. She had seen faint blemishes there before, maybe he could show her how to fix herself?

“Keith kept a stick of eyeliner for me at all times back at the Garrison, he gave it back first thing. That’s the only kind I have.” He shook free of her grasp, turning to the bathroom cabinets. One of the few things he brought into her quarters was a small, black tube. “I’ll demonstrate.” Shiro started the faucet and dipped his hands in the stream. He started to furiously scrub his eyes, making use of the soap. When he finally wiped his face. It was a little pinker, but the dark color lining his eyes was gone. “I put it on every morning;” he said, as if to answer her question. Quickly, he uncapped the tube, pulled his cheek down and started to apply quick strokes where his eyelashes grew. “It mostly just makes my eyes pop.” With a careful hand, he finished the line stretching from eyelid. “See?” He covered one eye, then the other. “I guess I look more…finished.”

He was correct. The extra line did help draw her eye to his. Just as quickly, he finished his second eye. “Want to try?”

She tried hard to keep her lid still as he applied the eyeliner. He did the second eye as well, tilting her head toward the mirror so she could see. The wings did draw attention from her other features. “It’s not a miracle, but it’s definitely something.” She smiled anyway, and gave Shiro a peck on the cheek. He pulled his arms around her, a familiar weight in such an unfamiliar skin. Shiro craned his neck upward, his forehead bumping into her chin. Allura giggled, leaning down to kiss him deeply.

Suddenly the tablet beeped, and they stopped, curious. Lines of Altean script filled the screen and Shiro passed it over.

“Hmm.” The princess read quietly. “Well. It seems my sickness was anticipated by the program. Staying my way that long, even in a cryopod, caused a buildup of acids that had to be expelled.” She pointed at the lines, even if he couldn’t read them. “And my shifting core is going to be paralyzed until the acids return to normal levels. A few more doboshes, give or take.”

Shiro let out an easy breath. “…that’s good.”

“Thank you for staying with me.”

“Anytime.” He was warm, and hesitant. “Do you still want to…?” and he trails off, vibrator humming in the air.

“Something not quite as strenuous as that. Cuddling?” she suggested.

“Yeah, that’s for the best.” His eyes suddenly lit up. “I call little spoon!”

“I’m sure you do! How do you even plan to be big spoon?”

“Princess, it’s called ‘jetpacking’ and it’s totally doable.”

“I refuse.” With her added height, it was easy to lean down and scoop him up. The sudden freeze, then laugh of her captive was worth it. “I should grow more often, if it means you behave.” There was a wet heat on her chest, starting with her scar. It sent tingles down her spine to see Shiro setting such attention on her. “And what are you doing?”

He leaned away, muttering breathlessly, “Wanna kiss every mark.”

Oh…that was an interesting thought. And she carried him off to make good on that promise.

The End


End file.
